The Giong Festival is a
traditional festival in commemoration and praise of the mythical hero
Saint Giong, one of four immortals of Vietnamese folk beliefs.

The
festival vividly imitates the evolution of fights of Saint Giong and
Van Lang people under the 6th King Hung reign in combating against the
foreign enemies, thereby raising the public awareness about the forms of
ancient tribe war and educating the patriotism, martial art traditions,
indomitable will, and independence and freedom desire of the nation.
The Giong Festival is held in many locations throughout the northern
part of Viet Nam, however the most typical ones are the Giong Festival
at Phu Dong and Soc temples (Ha Noi).

Giong Festival at Soc Temple(Phu
Linh Commune, Soc Son District, Ha Noi) is held annually from the sixth
to the eighth days of the first lunar month. According to the legend,
after defeating the foreign invaders, Soc Mountain in Phu Linh is the
last stopover of the saint before flying to heaven. There are many
traditional rituals during the festival such as procession ceremony,
incense offering ceremony, the ritual of bathing saint’s statue and
bamboo flowers offering ceremony to the Thuong (Upper) Temple where is
dedicated to the Saint Giong.

To
prepare for the festival, at the fifth day night, people from eight
villages of six communes in Soc Son District have carefully prepared
offerings to the saint. On the sixth day - the opening festival day -
villagers and pilgrims make incense offering to the Saint Giong Monument
on Mount Da Chong. And at midnight of the same day, there is the
bathing ritual of Saint Giong’s statue.

On
the main festival day, the seventh day which was the saint’s ascending
to heaven day according to the legend, there is a procession of bamboo
flowers to the Thuong Temple as offerings to the saint. The bamboo
flowers are made of a bamboo pieces that are sharpened into flowers and
dyed with various colors. The worshipped saint embodies the aspiration
for a peaceful country, harmonious rain and wind, and abundant harvest.

During
the festival, there are other traditional games such as Chinese chess,
human chess, cock fighting... and art performances of villagers as
traditional opera (cheo), love duet (quan ho).

Giong Festival at Phu Dong Temple

The
Giong Festival at the Phu Dong Temple is held annually from the sixth
to the twelfth days of the fourth lunar month in the village of Saint
Giong’s birth in Phu Dong Commune, Gia Lam District, Ha Noi.

From
the sixth to eighth days, there are ceremonies of carrying flags to Mau
(Mother) Temple where is dedicated to the Saint Giong’s mother and
carrying offerings of boiled rice and salted egg-plants to Thuong
(Upper) Temple where is dedicated to the Saint Giong.

The
main day of the festival is the ninth of the fourth lunar month. On
this day flags are carried from the Mau Temple to the Thuong Temple to
sacrifice to the saint. In addition, fighting against the Yin invaders
is re-enacted. The battle is elaborately arranged with the roles of
Masters (Ong Hieu) such as the Flag Master, the Drum Master, the Gong
Master, the Army Master, and the Children Master – the generals of Saint
Giong troop which are played by young men and 28 girls play the enemy
generals.

On
the tenth day, there are ceremonies of inspecting battlefield and
giving offerings to the Saint Giong. On the eleventh day, the ceremony
of cleaning and washing weapons with holy water takes place. On the
twelfth day, a flag procession goes to announce the victorious news to
heaven and earth. There are also ceremony of giving a feast to the troop
and cheo performances celebrating the victory.

The Giong Festival of Phu Dong and Soc temples recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Global
outstanding value of the Giong Festival is represented as a cultural
phenomenon which is preserved and handed down constantly and integrally
over many generations. The festival also serves as a community link and
contains many creative ideas, expressing the desire for national peace
and family prosperity.

The
Giong Festival satisfies the criteria for inscription on the
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as
follows:

-
R1: The Giong Festival is deeply rooted in the communities of the Red
River Delta as part of their identity, transmitted from generation to
generation and providing them a sense of continuity;-
R2: Its inscription on the Representative List could contribute to
promoting human creativity and dialogue between cultures, while
providing visibility to intangible cultural heritage;-
R3: Diverse and coherent safeguarding measures have been proposed
aiming to preserve, document, transmit, recognize and promote the
continuity of the Giong Festival, benefiting from the commitment of the
communities and the State;-
R4: The bearer and practitioner communities were consulted and provided
information for the nomination, as well as their free, prior and
informed consent;- R5: The
Giong Festival is inscribed in an inventory of the intangible cultural
heritage of Viet Nam, maintained by the Viet Nam Institute of Culture and Art Studies.

The
Giong Festival of Phu Dong and Soc temples has officially been
recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by the UNESCO
since November 2010. UNESCO has shortly and fully recorded of the Giong
Festival as "a Viet Nam culture museum that keeps many alluvial layers
of culture and beliefs."